Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Kazakhstan: An insulation plant caught fire in Utegen Batir Village, Ili on 21 September 2015. Seven vehicles and 35 firefighters responded to combat the fire, which, according to preliminary data, encompassed a 1800m² area.

Czech Republic: Expanded polystyrene (EPS) consumption in the Czech Republic rose by 5% year-on-year to 29,700t in the first half of 2015, according data reported to the Czech News Agency by the Czech EPS Association. The association is expecting EPS consumption to follow the trend in 2014 and also surpass 60,000t in 2015. The increase has been attributed to growth in the construction sector and by state subsidy programmes that support building insulation systems.

"In the second half of the year, the subsidies drawn from the New Green Savings Programme (the Environment Ministry's programme focused on energy savings and renewable energy sources in family houses) should become evident. People are starting working on their insulation and given that the weather is favourable, consumption can be expected to exceed 62,000t," said Pavel Zemene, head of the association.

In 2014, 60,850t of EPS were consumed in the Czech Republic. The highest level of EPS consumption was 66,000t in 2011. The Czech Republic is one of the European Union's leading countries for per capita consumption of EPS, beating Germany, Spain, France and Italy.

UK: Insulation specialist Celotex is set to launch its 'Insulating Scotland' campaign on 28 September 2015 when the company's custom designed campervan begins a Scotland roadshow.

Aiming to educate architects, contractors and their distribution partners to simplify their route to regulatory compliance, the 'Insulating Scotland' campaign will see Celotex travel around Scotland to deliver a series of technical clinics.

"Our 'Insulating Scotland' campaign will ensure that industry professionals across Scotland can easily access all they need to know about the new Section 6 Building Regulations," said Paul Evans, head of marketing at Celotex. "With further reductions in CO₂ emissions required for Scotland, Celotex product and service solutions will continue to help simplify compliance to these new levels."

The two-week roadshow will see the Celotex team travelling to a number of locations across Scotland. To minimise the environmental impact, Celotex has implemented a series of initiatives to offset more CO₂ emissions than released, ensuring the campervan tour is carbon positive.

Singapore: Insulation foams producer Armacell has been recognised for its pioneering initiative on environmental certification in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. The recognition came from UL Environment, which presented Armacell with an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Certification during a workshop on Indoor Air Quality and Environmental Product Declarations.

Lisa Meier, UL Environment vice president and global general manager, acknowledged Armacell as the first company to receive EPDs from UL Environment in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. Stephen Hodson, general manager of marketing APAC, said that, "The EPDs are highly important for providing product information to designers of green buildings in Asia."

Armacell's latest EPDs cover seven premium products that are sold across the Asia Pacific region. The initiative, said Armacell's technical manager for APAC Peter Cheng, makes Armacell the first insulation company to receive EPDs from UL Environment in APAC.

Demand for EPDs is growing in response to a change in green building guidelines and design practices. The US Green Building Council's LEED green building programme is now placing emphasis on life cycle assessment (LCA) based environmental reporting and transparency, rewarding points for the use of products with EPDs and LCAs as part of the Material and Resources (MR) Credits. Outside of the US, four of the top ten countries for LEED-certified buildings are in the APAC region: India, China, Korea and Taiwan.

US: GLT Products has announced its expansion into the Gulf Coast Region with the addition of new production plants in La Porte, Texas. The new building and facilities will be under the GLT Fabricators name.

The new plant will enable GLT Fabricators to meet the North American demand for ASTM standard industrial insulation solutions and products. Additionally, the company will offer a number of V-Groove pipe insulation choices, which is new to the GLT Products Company. GLT Fabricators will also offer other fabricated pipe insulation products, including:Pipe covering - 90º elbows, 45º elbows, tees and curved segments; Cellular glass; Extruded polystyrene; Mineral wool; Polyisocyanurate; Phenolic. 

"We needed new production facilities closer to our customers and end users. The inherent advantages of being able to meet tight delivery deadlines will help reduce our fabrication cost and lead-times. We needed a plan for 2015 and beyond to address the growth forecast we are predicting," said Timothy F Scott, president of GLT Fabricators.